A New Beginning
by MarieLightning
Summary: Sequel to 'Waiting for a Miracle' Remus and Tonks' twin children are grown up... or almost. As they enter Hogwarts School, they might learn about several things which should probably have remained hidden.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was shining brightly in the sky and birds were singing in the trees. On the first of September, King Cross was unusually crowded. Lots of people were trying to make their way through small groups, looking for their trains, scared of missing it. In that crowd, two heads could easily be spotted, even by muggles… a small girl of eleven years old, with flashing red hair and pale blue eyes, was wandering off in every direction and her mother, with bright pink hair that was shocking most people once they understood she was a mother, was running after her, an annoyed look on her face.

"Lily Molly Lupin, will you stop disappearing and hurry up a bit?" she shouted through the crowd so that her daughter could hear her. "Your brother is already getting on board and I've already told you, the train does not wait for students who are late!"

Lily gave her mother an annoyed look, sighed and gave her her hand. Tonks dragged the small girl with her, almost running toward platform 9 ¾. They went through the gate together to find Remus who was holding a small crying girl in his arms.

"Where's James?" asked Tonks, taking the sobbing child in her own arms.

"Already in the train," said Remus with a small sigh before smiling at his other daughter. "And you, young lady, are you ready to go?"

Lily smiled and nodded vigorously.

"Which house do you want to get sorted into?" asked Tonks.

"I don't care, I just wanna be with James. Can I go now?" she asked pleadingly.

Tonks kissed her softly and stroked her cheek.

"Yes you can," she said sadly.

The small girl hugged both her parents tightly and kissed her little sister.

"Come on Marie, you'll be able to come in only five years," she said cheerfully before jumping in the train.

A few seconds later, a window of the train opened and Lily popped her head out, waving at her parents.

"I love you!" she said happily.

"Love you too Pumpkin pie!" answered Tonks. "Be good, and don't get yourself – or anybody else – in trouble with your power!"

"What's the fun of having powers if you can't use them?" she asked plaintively.

The train started moving and Lily waved at her parents until they were out of sight. Left alone with their crying daughter, they looked at each other, a bit sad and worried, and then Remus took Tonks' hand, squeezed it gently and they both went away with their youngest child, who would unfortunately leave them as well too soon.

Back in the train, Lily was trying to find her brother. She was running from one compartment to another, bursting into conversations and looking from left to right. Finally, she pushed a door open and saw him. He was sitting with a small girl with short blonde hair, who looked as excited as Lily herself, though shyer. Beside the small girl was a taller boy with mid-length black hair, who, unlike his sister, wore an annoyed look.

Lily sat beside James and looked at the two people sitting in front of them, looking very curious. James noticed it and nudged her in the ribs before giving her a "it's-rude-to-stare" look. Lily rolled her eyes and smiled at the strangers.

"Hi," she said cheerfully. "I'm Lily Lupin, and this is my brother James," she added, pointing at him. "We're starting at Hogwarts this year. And who are you?"

"I'm Emily Jones," said the small girl shyly. "And I'm new too. This is my brother, Frederic."

"Which year are you in?" asked Lily.

"I'm entering my third year," he said, not sounding very excited.

"Which house are you in?"

"Hufflepuff."

"Oh, is that the one with the badger?"

James nudged her again, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Stop asking question Lils!" he whispered.

"Why?" she asked, her eyes widening before she turned to Frederic. "Am I bothering you?" she asked innocently.

Frederic looked at her for a while and then smiled.

"No, it's okay," he said.

Suddenly the door flung open and teen girl entered the compartment, her chin slightly up, a smug look on her face which made her look very plain. Otherwise, with her rosy cheeks and chestnut brown curly hair, she could have been really pretty. Apparently, Frederic thought so too, since he looked as if he wanted to disappear right through the floor.

"Oh, hello Freddy," she said, making him cringe.

"Hi Josie," he mumbled.

"Sorry to disturb you… I didn't know you were… babysitting," she said with a little smirk.

She gave another look around as Frederic turned red and closed the door behind her. For a moment, there was a very uncomfortable silence, and then Lily looked up at Frederic, screwing up her face. Her red hair turned brown, curls appearing here and there.

"So you like brown hair?" she asked casually.

Frederic turned even redder and his eyes widened as he looked at her.

"How did you do that?!" he asked, astonished.

Emily too was looking at her with big eyes, full of surprise and also admiration. Could this little girl, who was her age, know such magic already?

"Lily!" said James, shocked. "Mum told you not to do that!"

"She said not to get in trouble with it," cried Lily, her hair switching back to red. "And I didn't do anything wrong."

She turned to Frederic and noticed he was still looking at her with huge eyes.

"I'm a Metamorphmagus, like my mum," she explained. "James is one too."

"What's a metamorph… something?" asked Emily.

"It means she can change her appearance at will… she could look exactly like you if she wanted to," said Frederic with an envious look.

Lily smiled at him as the door opened again. A tall girl, who was wearing the traditional black wizard robes, plus a blue and bronze tie, popped her head in and smiled.

"Hi kids. You might want to change into your uniforms, we'll be getting there soon."

She winked and closed the door. Lily looked at Frederic, an excited look on her face.

"Are we really getting there soon?" she asked.

"I think so yes," he said, taking a look at the now dark sky outside.

The four of them changed into their school robes and not too long after that, the train stopped moving and they all got out. Frederic hugged his small sister and wished good luck to Lily and James before disappearing in the crowd.

"First year, follow meh!" roared a voice.

Lily's eyes widened at the sight of the enormous man in front of them.

"Yeh two are Remus and Tonks' kids, aren't yeh?" he asked when he saw them.

"Yes sir," answered James as Lily took his hand.

"Then come with meh children," he said, leading all first years toward the lake, where they got in small boats.

A few minutes later, they arrived in front of the school and Lily's mouth fell wide open as she squeezed her brother's hand, which she was still holding.

It was so huge and beautiful! Her parents had tried to describe it to her but they had both given up, saying it wasn't possible to describe it and that she would find out by herself. At the time, Lily had been quite annoyed by her parents' refusal to tell her what Hogwarts school looked like, but now she understood.

All first years entered the school and stopped at the sight of an old woman with grey and white hair, which had once been black. She was wearing a long and dark glimmering purple robe and her face was very strict, though Lily could guess that she was quite nice.

"Follow me children," she said, entering a small classroom.

Everybody indeed followed her and found themselves squeezed all together in the tiny room.

"My name is Professor McGonagall and I am the headmistress of Hogwarts School," she announced.

Lily's eyes widened. The headmistress was in charge of welcoming the students?

"When it'll be time, we will all go in the Great Hall, in line, and I don't want any talking, understood?"

She glanced around the room with a stern look at those who had been whispered and they immediately turned a deep shade of red.

"There are four houses in this school, as you should all know; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

Lily and James both shuddered at the same time. Most of their family, especially their uncles Harry and Ron, despised the house of Slytherin and they had heard a great deal about it.

"Now, follow me!" said Professor McGonagall as she got out of the classroom and entered the Great Hall.

All the other students were already sitting, waiting for the feast to begin. McGonagall lead the first years to the front of the room and then made them stop as she stood by a small three-legged stool on which was an old ragged hat. The Sorting hat. Excitement rose in Lily again. A small line appeared on the hat, as if it had a mouth, and a clear voice filled the Great Hall.

"_Many decades ago, many centuries_

_Lived four witch and wizards; hear their story_

_They had a wish, they had a dream_

_As bright and light as the moonlight gleam_

_To build a school, to make a home_

_For children to live, hidden from some_

_And so beside a lake, beyond the forest_

_A house was erected, a place to rest_

_Children arrived, eager to learn_

_All different in their hope to earn_

_Pure, half and muggle born_

_All together, and yet all alone_

_And so an idea in the founders' heads rose_

_To put them all in separate houses_

_According to their abilities and differences_

_They taught them all to follow their senses_

_Brave Gryffindor seeking for courage_

_Slytherin searching for pureness through the age_

_Hufflepuff's loyalty taking her house's lead_

_And to enter Ravenclaw, intelligence you'd need_

_And so to decide who was worthy of them_

_A bit of magic came off from their head_

_A thinking hat, all ragged outside_

_But trust me children, I'll see what's inside."_

For a few seconds the hall was filled with applause and then Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

"When I call out your name," said McGonagall. "Come and sit on the stool."

She started calling out names, starting with "Bloom, Melissa" who got sorted in Ravenclaw. For a while, Lily paid no attention to the sorting, as she was looking around the Great Hall. A long banner was hanging from behind what seemed to be the professors' table. Lily recognized it quickly as Hogwarts banner and she looked at the four other banners which were floating in the room. A red and gold one with a lion, a green and silver one with a snake, a blue and bronze one with an eagle and a yellow and black one with a badger. Lily didn't know why, but the last one seemed quite interesting to her. Then, when the name of "Jones, Emily" was called out, Lily turned to see the small shy girl with whom she had been sitting in the train.

Emily walked slowly toward the stool and sat on it, her face white and her whole body shaking until the hat shouted:

"Gryffindor!"

Emily jumped off the stool, quite glad it was done and over, and ran to the Gryffindor table. Two other children were sorted (both in Slytherin) until finally, Professor McGonagall called out James' name. As shyly as Emily, James approached the stool and sat. It took a while for the hat to decide where he would be sorted, but after about five minutes, it finally shouted:

"Gryffindor!"

Proud of her brother, Lily barely heard her name being called out. Excitedly, she ran to the stool and waited for the hat to sort her, confident that she would be with her brother. But then…

"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat.

Lily stared blankly as the name of Hufflepuff echoed in the Great Hall. Disappointed – not of being in Hufflepuff, but of not being with James – but cheerful of nature, she jumped off the stool and walked to the Hufflepuff table.

Frederic smiled at her and Lily noticed there was an empty seat beside him. He had obviously been keeping it for his sister, just in case, but he offered it to her and she gladly took it.

When the sorting finally ended (by "Wallace, Matthew" being sorted in Slytherin), Professor McGonagall sat in the middle of the professors' table and food appeared out of nowhere on the tables.

Lily froze for a second but she quickly shook her head as hunger called her back to her senses. She reached for the food and gladly filled her plate, eating in a manner that was weirdly similar to her uncle Ron's. Soon after the desserts had disappeared, Professor McGonagall rose to her feet and silence filled the room.

"Welcome to all of you," she said loudly. "Welcome to a new year of Hogwarts School. As always," she said with a sigh. "The forbidden forest is out of bound for every single student in this school, and I don't care if it looks like the perfect place to make love potions," she added, glaring sternly at a bunch of giggling girls from Ravenclaw.

"For those who wish to join the Quidditch team of their house, the trial will be held accordingly to your team Captains. And now, it's time to say goodnight. Please follow the prefects of your houses, they will give you the password for your Common Room," she said, waiting for the students to get up. "Well, off you go!"

Everybody got up and each followed a different direction, all the new students wondering where they would find their Common Room. Lily followed a tall and chubby boy, who was one of Hufflepuff's prefects, and as they were going through the most amazing staircase she had ever seen, Lily wondered if she would even be able to remember which way to take to reach her common room.

After ten minutes of wandering in the corridors, they all stopped in front of a wall. Actually, it was a curtain, but there was obviously a wall behind it. It couldn't be a wall, since the curtain didn't reach the floor and a door would have been visible behind it.

Then, the prefect pushed away the curtain to reveal a portrait. A beautiful portrait of a very pretty woman, with long blonde silky curls and a creamy skin. From the look of her clothes, she seemed to be a lady who would have lived a few centuries ago. She was wearing a beautiful yellow dress and a long black cloak was covering her shoulders. With her white hands, she was holding a golden cup… with a badger on it…

Black and yellow… badger… Lily gasped and looked at Frederic, who was still standing beside her.

"Is that…" she began, pointing at the painting.

"Helga Hufflepuff," said Frederic. "Or so it would seem. The only found that portrait last year. It was hidden in a room of the castle… surprising that nobody had ever found it before," he said, raising an eyebrow. "They thought that the rightful place to put her would be here."

"What about the others?" asked Lily. "Rowena, Godric, Salazar…"

"I've never heard of portraits of them being found," he answered simply.

Lily opened her mouth, probably to ask another question, but the prefect started talking again and she decided to keep her question for later.

"So here is the Common Room everybody. This year, the password is… Sunflower?" he said, looking at the portrait quizzically.

Helga shrugged her shoulder and the portrait flung open, but Lily could swear that she had heard a small giggle when she went through the small hole that was hidden behind the painting.

As she entered the Common Room, she gasped again. The walls were painted in a flashy yellow colour, but it was not disagreeable or anything like that. There were no windows since they were in the basement, but black velvet drapes were hanging here and there on the walls. In one corner of the room, there was a huge fireplace, and all around the room, there were black seats and sofas on the dark yellow carpet. All the furniture – tables, bookcases, etc – was also black with small yellow engravings, most of the time a badger of a big "H".

Lily smiled happily and followed the prefect who was showing the first years where the dormitories were, but then, as she noticed that Frederic was going toward the stairs, she turned around and ran to him.

"Hey," she said cheerfully.

"Hey," he answered, smiling. "So, what do you think?" he asked, looking around the room.

"It's beautiful," she said, her eyes sparkling. "I'm glad I was sorted in Hufflepuff."

"That's good, because I thought you were disappointed at first."

"Oh, I was," she said sincerely, as usual. "But only because I realized I wouldn't be in James' house."

"Don't worry, you'll still get to see him," said Frederic, smiling. "You'll have a lot of classes with Gryffindors; Hufflepuffs always do."

Lily smiled at him and they remained silent for few minutes before Frederic pointed at his dormitory.

"I'm gonna go to bed now. Have a good night, Lily," he said.

"You too," she answered happily.

They both went their way and Lily ran up the stairs before pushing open the door of the dormitory she was sharing with five other girls. Four of them were already asleep but the other one was sitting on her bed, staring at the ceiling, her arms wrapped around her knees. She had long pale blonde braided hair and her eyes, which seemed to be brown, were sparkling with tears.

Lily, feeling a bit uncomfortable, which was unusual, changed into her nightdress and got into bed, but after a few minutes, she got back on her feet and went beside the little girl.

"Hi, I'm Lily," she said nicely.

The little girl looked at her for a minute and then lied down on her bed, covering herself with the yellow quilt.

"Leave me alone," she mumbled from under the quilt.

Taken aback, Lily went back into her bed and shook her head. A few minutes later, she was already falling asleep, dreaming and hoping that the years to come would be as great as the first day she had spent at Hogwarts, but dreading it would go too fast.


	2. Chapter 2

In a way, Lily was right. Even though days seemed to be getting longer and longer from time to time, the first five years went so fast that she hardly noticed then and later looked back at them almost sorrowfully.

The summer before her fifth year was probably the most marking one. Marie, her small sister, had risked her life by taking a ride on James' broom and falling from it while flying at quite a height. Arthur Weasley, whom Lily considered as her grandfather, died at the age of 72 in a peaceful sleep. And finally, Harry and Ginny announced that they were expecting their third child.

On the morning of the 31th of August, Lily woke up soon after the sun had risen in the sky. She looked at the bed next to her to see that James was still sleeping and, according to the look on his face, he wouldn't wake up for a while.

Stretching up, Lily got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. She was about to enter when she heard voices coming from the other side of the door. She pushed the door open, only a tiny bit, so that she could see without being seen, and held her breath as she listened to what was going on.

Lily gasped silently at the sight of her father. He never did look healthy, but this time it was almost scary. His hair had now more grey than brown in it, and his face was pale, almost livid, except for a small part under his eyes which was almost black. But the thing that was worrying Lily the most were his scars... Long scars, some old and some new, which covered his whole body. Her mother was looking very worried as well as she was making a potion on the stove, which Lily recognized as the Pepper-Up potion.

"Here honey," said Tonks as she handed a huge mug to Remus. "Drink this."

Remus took a sip from the mug and as he was emptying it, Lily noticed that he was starting to look slightly better.

"How are you feeling?" asked Tonks, sounding concerned.

"I've been better," sighed Remus. "It's become worse, Dora. It's almost unbearable now…"

"Don't worry Remus, I'm sure we can find something that will help you go through it better than any potions you're already taking."

She was looking very confident indeed, but Remus only sighed and wrapped his arms around his wife, holding her close to him, looking like a child who needed protection. Lily silently closed the door and made her way back up the stairs, where she entered her room and sat on her bed. She wasn't hungry anymore, but she was suddenly very sleepy.

She lied down on the bed and looked at James. He was moving in his sleep, though looking quite peaceful, but suddenly he opened his eyes and stared at her.

"Hi," whispered Lily.

"Hey," mumbled James before yawning.

Lily smiled at him but something was lacking from her smile, and her eyes were filled with worry and concern instead of being full of stars, as usual. James sat up straight in bed and moved a bit to the left, making her a place. Lily got out of her bed and sat on James', sighing.

"What's the matter Lils?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" she asked, staring at her own hands.

"Come on, as if you could hide something from me," he said, laughing a little.

Lily glared at her twin brother and sighed. She loved him very dearly, he was a part of her, but sometimes she had the most uncomfortable feeling that her thoughts didn't fully belong to her, that she had to share them with him when, occasionally, he felt like taking a peek in her head.

"It's dad, isn't it?" asked James.

Lily nodded as tears came to her eyes and James wrapped his arms around his sister, hugging her tightly. He had noticed too that their father seemed more and more tired, and he could feel that their mother, who was always looking at the bright side, seemed to be struggling to find any consolation or good side in this story.

But what was a shock for Lily and James was simply normal to Tonks. They were gone ten months a year, so it was normal that, when they were finally back, Remus' sight was almost scary. Tonks, her, witnessed to Remus' evolution, or most likely degradation every day. She was always taking good care of him and even though she could feel that Remus was getting worse, she still knew it would never be enough to finish him off. Remus was too strong for that.

Later that day, while Remus was taking a nap in the living room, Lily slowly made her way downstairs and went straight to the kitchen. She knew her mother was there, as she was always in the kitchen, even though she could hardly ever be seen cooking. There were actually times when Lily wondered what she was doing in there…

Taking a deep breath, Lily sat in front of her mother, who smiled at her. Lily smiled back at the sight of her mum's pink hair. Most people would have thought she was too old for such extravagance, and most of her classmate would have been embarrassed of having a mother who was trying to look young. But Lily knew better – her mother was young, cheerful and lovely. There was no point in hiding her youth and personality behind a classic hairdo and a respectful colour. No, Tonks was young and so was her appearance.

"What's the problem Pumpkin pie?" asked Tonks, seeing right in her daughter's mind.

Lily cringed at both the question and the cute nickname. The fact that her brother could read her thoughts was understandable to some extend, but her mother? As for the "Pumpkin pie", it was cute when she had been five years old, but at fifteen, it was another story. Lily ate pumpkin pie, she wasn't one.

"How come everybody think something is wrong?" asked Lily, annoyed.

Tonks smiled softly and pointed at her daughter's hair. Lily got on her feet, confused, and went to take a look in the mirror. As she looked at her reflection, she gasped in horror – her hair kept changing colour! And Lily had no control on it. Tonks appeared beside her and took a lock of Lily's hair between her fingers before letting it fall again.

"You're still young, sweetie," said Tonks gently. "You don't control your power fully yet, and to tell you the truth, you never really will. Being a Metamorphmagus is a great thing, but our appearance is linked with our emotions. Being older, only a great shock could deprive me of a good control over it," said Tonks, remembering what had happened after Sirius' death. "But as you're still a young girl, almost a young woman… your emotions are almost directly connected with your ability to change your looks."

Lily sighed and tried to calm down, but it was no use; her hair was now a very bright shade of green. Tonks smiled softly and put her arm around Lily's shoulders.

"So, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Dad," muttered Lily after a small hesitation.

Tonks sighed and hugged her daughter, stroking her hair.

"He's not well, I know you've noticed. You are not five anymore and we can't hide the fact that your father is… a bit sick."

"What's the matter? Is he ill? Will he get better?" asked Lily, her eyes shining with worry and her bottom lip slightly trembling.

"There's no need to worry about that Pumpkin pie," said Tonks softly. "Your father will get better. He always does."

Tonks squeezed Lily's hand and went back to the kitchen. Lily sighed and slowly went up the stairs to enter her bedroom. James wasn't there anymore, Harry had taken him out for the day, for a godfather/godson day. Hermione, being Lily's godmother, had asked her if she wanted to do something as well, but Lily wanted to spend her last day of her summer holiday at home.

She grabbed a book and jumped on her bed, but as she was about to open it, a small owl flew in, dropped a letter on the floor and went away as quickly as it had came. Lily blinked, not sure if she had just had a hallucination, but when she saw the letter on the ground she got out of bed and picked it up before opening it. When she saw the familiar writing, her heart started beating slightly faster, though she did not notice it and wouldn't have admitted it if she had.

"Hey Lils,

How are you? Did you spend a good summer? I hope you did. I've been stuck alone with Emily most of the time (and she is really growing to be a pain) but today I decided to lock myself up in my room and ignore her constant banging on the door. Which is also why I decided to send you a letter.

I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! It'll be my last trip to Hogwarts… boy those seven years sure went fast! Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be keeping a place for you in the Hogwarts Express. And for James, of course.

Talk to you soon,

Frederic."

Lily dropped the letter and stared blankly at the wall. Fred was entering his last year… she had completely forgotten! After this year, he would no longer be a student in Hogwarts School… and then who would Lily hang out with in the Hufflepuff Common Room? Who would make her laugh? Who would calm her down when she would be scared before an exam? She didn't want him to leave… he was her friend and she couldn't bear the thought of losing him. She knew too well he would quickly forget her when he'd be out in the real world…

Lily went back into her bed, covered her body with her quilt and buried her head under her pillow. When her mother called her for dinner that night, Lily pretended t be sleeping, but she didn't fall into dream land until very late that night.

The next morning, Lily was woken up by her brother who was shaking her like mad.

"Lily, get up or we'll be late!" he said before rushing to his closet.

Lily groaned. She was about to go back to sleep when her eyes fell on the alarm clock. It was almost ten! She sprung on her feet and ran to her own closet, taking out all the stuff she wasn't bringing to school. After looking through all the clothes she had thrown on the floor for fifteen minutes, she ended up putting on a pair of trousers and a bright yellow sweatshirt. She took a glance in the mirror, screwed up her face and her blonde hair turned to a deep brown as her green eyes became blue.

Forty minutes later, the whole family arrived at King Cross. Tonks and Remus kissed their children and watched the three of them wistfully as they all climbed on the train – since Marie was now eleven years old and as excited as Lily herself had been on her first day.

However, Lily was not as eager as usual to leave home. First of all, no matter what her mother had told her, she was still feeling worried about her father. And second… she did not want the school year to begin, because then it would have to end and Fred would be gone… Sighing and putting on a smile while ignoring the inquisitor look James was giving her, she waved at her parents and entered the train. She stood there for a while, next to the door, even when the train had started moving. The train could move. She could not. Then, she felt a touch on her shoulder. Sighing, she turned around, expecting to see James, but when her eyes fell on Frederic, her heart skipped a beat.

"Hey Lils, what are you doing here? We've been looking for you," he said, smiling down at her.

Lily smiled back and hugged him… a friendly hug, of course.

"Hey Fred," she said, trying to sound cheerful.

But Fred knew her well enough to know when something was wrong. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms on his chest.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"No…" she said, trying to be convincing.

"Come on Lily, I know you better than that," he said, rolling his eyes.

Lily sighed, slightly annoyed.

"Why does everybody always know how I feel? I mean… my head is not a playground!"

"I know," he said, stroking her cheek gently.

Lily blushed and swallowed with difficulty. "_Friendly gesture, friendly gesture_," she thought to herself.

"So, what's the matter?"

She looked up at him, evaluating the choices she had. Telling him everything or only part of it. She chose the second option.

"My father doesn't look very good lately and I'm a bit worried," she sighed.

Frederic nodded gravely and took her hand.

"Come on, everybody is waiting for you. We'll cheer you up," he said, grinning.

Lily smiled and followed him in a compartment. She smiled at Emily, who was sitting quite close to James, and laughed at the sight of Marie who was looking curiously at everybody and everything.

They spent the whole journey talking and laughing, until, a few hours later, the door of their compartment flung open and a tall girl entered, looking prouder than usual. Everybody sighed in the compartment, except Marie who had no idea of who this girl was. But for the others, it was now an habit that Josie Malfoy should spoil at least five minutes of the trip to Hogwarts.

"Why, hello children," she said, smirking, as if she had expected to find other people in the compartment.

"Hey Josie," said Lily, slightly annoyed as the boys and Emily only nodded at her, rolling their eyes.

"Now, who do we have here?" she said as her eyes fell on Marie. "Another babysitting job for you Freddy?" she asked, her pale blue eyes looking at him slyly.

"Yeah, right Josie, I'm babysitting," said Fred with a sigh, as he had given up ignoring her a while ago.

"Always hanging out with the younger ones I see," she said with a sneer. "Really Freddy, you should reconsider my proposition."

She smirked at them all and left the compartment, laughing coldly. Frederic glared at her as she went out and mumbled incomprehensible words for a few seconds.

"If she calls me Freddy one more time…" he began, muttering.

"You'll do nothing, as usual," completed Lily with a teasing smile.

"Exactly!" he said, smiling at her. Then he laughed. "Really, she has nothing better to do?"

"Well at least she leaves us alone most of the year after that, she just try to spoil our first day, which is very nice of her," said Lily with a straight face, nodding.

Frederic rolled his eyes.

"Talk for yourself, she's in most of my classes…" he mumbled.

Lily laughed and put her arm around Frederic's shoulder before giving him a loud smack on the cheek. He turned slightly red and laughed with her. Year after year, it was almost a tradition and they were used to it. They spent the rest of the day joking and talking about random things as James and Emily were having fun in their corner, doing a thumb war, and Marie had found herself a friend who was her own age.

Lily sighed happily as she got dressed into her school robes after taking a look at her watch which was indicating that they would reach Hogwarts soon. After all… even if Fred would be gone next year, it wasn't a reason not to enjoy the time she still had left to spend with him.


	3. Chapter 3

When Lily woke up in the Hufflepuff dormitory the next morning, she sat up straight in bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and sighed happily. She was back at Hogwarts and a new year was beginning, full of surprises and filled with new things to learn. She looked over at her timetable, which had not been there the previous night, and took a look at it. Most of her classes were with the Gryffindors, except Potions, which was with the Ravenclaws, and Divination, during which they had to bare the presences of Slytherin students.

"Hey Lily," said a sleepy voice coming from the other side of the room.

Lily looked up and smiled at Sophy, one of her Hufflepuff friends, who had apparently just woken up. Sophy got on her feet and nudged Lori, Eve and Katharine, who also shared the same dormitory as them. All three girls mumbled something and glared at Sophy with a look that clearly said: "Why did you wake me up?" Lily laughed as all four girls got dressed and left the room. Then she looked over at Melanie, who was still sleeping in the bed next to hers. Even in her sleep she had a sulky expression on her face. Nobody knew anything about her, except that she had no friend, for she would not let anyone come close to her. She had been the crying little girl Lily had tried to cheer up on her first day, and all through the five years that had passed, she had rejected all offers of friendship. But Lily had her mother's determination and her father's stubborn nature and she had never given up. Presently, she jumped on her feet and nudged Melanie, who simply groaned and sat up straight without even a look for Lily.

"Good morning Melanie," said Lily cheerfully.

"Hmmm," answered Melanie, looking around for her clothes.

Lily sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She quickly got dressed, grabbed her school bag and made her way to the door. Before she got out, she looked in the mirror and frowned. Her hair was back to its original blonde colour. Lily screwed up her face and her hair turned to brown. She smiled at her reflection and ran down the stairs before jumping on the couch that was facing the fireplace, right beside Eve.

"Good morning sunshine," said Eve, laughing.

"Good morning," answered Lily, grinning widely at her friend as she looked around the common room.

"Your boyfriend is already gone if that's who you're looking for," said Eve, looking back down at the book she was reading.

Lily punched Eve's arm, glaring at her.

"Will you stop saying that?" she said, annoyed. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"But you wish he was," said Sophy teasingly as she sat down beside her.

"You looooove him," added Lori, standing behind the couch.

"No I don't!" cried Lily.

"Come on Lily, it's so obvious," said Katharine, rolling her eyes as she sat on the floor in front of Eve.

"You girls are such a pain," mumbled Lily sulkily, crossing her arms.

"But you love us all the same," said Eve, putting her arm around Lily's shoulder.

Lily simply stuck out her tongue at her.

"Seriously Lily, we have to talk," said Eve with a straight face.

"About what?" sighed Lily.

"About Fred!"

Lily put her hand on Eve's mouth and looked around the room nervously. Then she turned back to her friend and glared at her.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she whispered through gritted teeth.

"Alright then, we need to talk about Fred," said Eve again, whispering this time.

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed.

"What about him?" she asked.

"Lily, you've had a crush on that guy ever since you entered the same compartment as him on your first day at Hogwarts," said Eve, stroking Lily's hair motherly.

"I don't…" began Lily.

"Shut up and listen, Lily," said a frowning Eve, interrupting her. "Fred is entering his last year. He won't be here next year. Now this is your last chance to get him and you know it!"

"What if I don't want to get him?" mumbled Lily.

"Lily, will you please be honest?" asked Eve pleadingly.

"We're your friends!" added Sophy.

Lily sighed and looked down at her hands.

"It's not… I don't know, it's so weird…" she sighed. "I don't want him to leave but… I honestly don't think I love him," she said sincerely, looking at her friends.

All four of them sighed and nodded, not fully convinced. But Lily truly and honestly believed what she had just said. To her, Frederic was a very good friend, her best friend, but that was all. She could not love her best friend and she did not want to love him… it would hurt ever so much if she did, it would be even worse to lose him if he was her boyfriend than if he was simply… a friend.

A few minutes later, they all went down for breakfast as they only had one hour left before their first class, Transfiguration. They all entered the Great Hall and made their way to the Hufflepuff's table. Lily waved at James, who was sitting with Emily at the Gryffindor's table, and at Marie who was talking with her new Ravenclaw school mates. When they arrived at the Hufflepuff's table, Frederic, who was already there, smiled at Lily and waved at her.

Katharine and Lori giggled, making Lily glare at them before sighing. As for Sophy and Eve, who were by far Lily's best friends even though she did like the two other girls, they simply looked at each other with the most pained expression on their face, as if thinking that if their friend did not love Fred, he was clearly crazy about her, and the thing that worried them the most was that Lily might not realize she shared the feeling before it was too late.

The girls followed Lily as she sat beside Frederic and started eating their breakfast without a comment, as if they knew Lily would hex them if they said anything. Frederic waved at the girls, provoking a new giggle fit for Lori and Katharine, which caused them to be kicked under the table by Eve, who thought her friends really had a lack of maturity and that Lily would soon kill them if they did not try to restrain themselves.

However, Frederic had not noticed, or had simply ignored, the girl's giggles as he was comparing his timetable with Lily's.

"Lucky you, only one class with the Slytherins," he said, sighing. "I have about four."

"That's good, you'll get to spend more time with Josie," said Lily teasingly, her eyes twinkling.

"Don't say that please!" cried Frederic pleadingly. "Or else I might just have to curse myself."

"You will do no such thing," said Lily, laughing and shaking her finger at him.

"And who will keep me from doing it? You?" he asked, laughing and rolling his eyes.

Lily punched his arms, laughing.

"Exactly, sir!" she said.

"Ow," said Fred plaintively, massaging his arm. "Alright, alright, you win," he mumbled.

Lily grinned triumphantly as the four girls beside her exchanged amused looks.

"Anyway, seems like we won't have much time to spend together," sighed Fred, looking back down at the two timetables. "Our breaks are hardly ever at the same time, and we'll have so much studying to do during the evening…"

"Since when do you study?" asked Lily, frowning.

"Alright, you'll have lots of studying to do," he said teasingly.

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at her watch. Then she started looking up.

"The owls should be here soon," she said more to herself than to Fred.

Her mother, since her first year, had always sent a letter to her children on their first morning. Soon, hundreds of owls filled the Great Hall, dropping small parcels and huge letters in front of the students. Lily looked up expectantly, waiting to see her parents' owl, but frowned when they all left the room. Her mother had not written to her… Lily looked over at James who looked back at her, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.

All of her friends, including Fred, having received letters, none of them noticed Lily's thoughtful expression. She ate her breakfast absent-mindedly and when it was time to leave for her class, she followed her friends without a word, not even saying bye to Fred.

Luckily for her, her professors mostly talked about their OWLs evaluations that day, so Lily's lack of attention did no penalize her too badly as Fred had already told her most of what she had to know about it.

In the evening, when she made her way back to the common room, alone as her friends had gone to the library, she was still wearing a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Sunshine daisy," she said to the portrait as she got to the entrance of the common room.

"You've got something on your mind," said Helga, frowning.

Lily shrugged and the portrait flung open. She climbed through the hole and sighed thankfully when she saw that the common room was empty. She made her way to the nearest couch and laid down on it, feeling very tired. She closed her eyes, trying to relax, telling herself that her mother probably had thought they were old enough and didn't need a letter on their first morning anymore. But then… why hadn't she written to Marie? As she was trying to understand why her mother hadn't written, the portrait hole flung open again and Lily groaned. It was quite selfish to hope she could have the whole common room only for herself, but she wanted to be alone and, knowing that Melanie would surely be in the dormitory, the only option she had left was the common room.

Lily kept her eyes tightly shut, hoping the person who had just entered would go away or at least leave her alone.

Consequently, she groaned when she heard the person coming to her to her and stopping beside the couch.

"Lily?"

Lily sighed, opened her eyes and looked up at Frederic with a small smile.

"Hey," she said softly.

He looked down at her with a worried expression on his face. Then he sighed and smiled at her.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

"I'm tired," she said, shrugging her shoulder.

Frederic nodded but she could see that he didn't completely believe her, which made her feel slightly annoyed. She sat up straight on the couch and sighed. Frederic sat down beside her and put a comforting and protective arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Come on Lils, you know you can tell me," he said softly.

"It's just… I'm worried, but I know there's probably nothing to be worried about and if I tell you, you'll think I'm stupid and you'll laugh at me," she sighed.

"Lily, that's not true and you know it. Do you really think I'd laugh at you when you're worried?"

Lily shrugged and sighed.

"The thing is… my mother always write to James and me on our first morning… she's been doing it ever since we entered Hogwarts, but not this year, and I'm worried something might have happened."

Frederic remained silent, stroking Lily's hair absent-mindedly.

"I think… if something had happened, you'd have known… someone else would have written… don't you think?" he suggested.

Lily looked up at him thoughtfully and sighed, nodding.

"You're probably right," she said. "It's just… with my dad being a bit sick, it worries me more than it usually would."

Frederic nodded and sighed, kissing her temple softly. Lily was used to those small affection marks, it happened often between them, but she didn't know why, this time she felt herself blushing as he did it.

"It's normal to be a bit worried about nothing and everything when we're away from home, Lils," he said softly. "Just… don't get yourself sick over it, okay?" he asked, stroking her hair.

Lily nodded as she looked up at him, their eyes meeting and locking. Frederic raised his hand and gently pushed a strand of hair that had fallen on her face back behind her ear. Lily's heart started beating faster as he bent down toward her, his face coming closer to hers. She closed her eyes and then…

"Lily, are you in here?" rang a voice as the portrait door opened.

Lily's eyes sprung open as she and Fred jumped apart, him of surprise, her to make sure that whoever had entered could not see them.

However, they were not fast enough. Eve was standing next to the door, looking at them both with a clearly interested look on her face. She smirked at Fred's air as he was looking around, trying to look careless, and she raised an eyebrow at Lily's red and frowning face. Rolling her eyes, Eve walked to the couch and stood beside Lily.

"Good evening Frederic," she said with a little smile, putting some extra emphasis on the first two words.

Lily looked up at Eve and glared at her.

"Mind if I borrow Lily from you?" she asked sweetly.

"What if I don't want to be borrowed?" asked Lily, still glaring.

Eve grabbed Lily's arm and forced her to get back on her feet.

"She'll be back in a minute," she said, smiling at Fred.

She dragged Lily up to their dormitory and when the door was closed, she let go of her, making sure the room was empty apart from them.

"What's your problem?" raged Lily.

"I don't have a problem but clearly, you do," said Eve, still looking around the room. Then, she turned to Lily. "So, what happened?"

"That's none of your business," said Lily angrily.

"Lily Lupin, don't make me hurt you…"

"Nothing happened, alright?" mumbled Lily, sitting on her bed. "Actually, that's not true. You happened."

"Aww sweetie I'm sorry," said Eve, sitting down beside Lily.

"It doesn't matter," she sighed, shrugging. "It's better that way."

"Lily, don't make me shake you until your ideas are in their right place in your hard head!"

Lily shrugged again, mumbling something under her breath. Eve sighed, shaking her head.

"Lily, just be honest for once. What did it feel like when he was about to kiss you?"

Lily's eyes widened.

"How do you…" she began.

"Come on, I have eyes," said Eve, rolling them as if to support her point. "So?"

Lily sighed and looked down at her feet.

"It felt… just… just like out of a dream," she said almost in a whisper.

"So go for it, for Heaven's sake!" said Eve exasperatedly.

"No!" cried Lily, looking almost scared. "You don't understand Eve!"

She lied down on the bed, grabbing the pillow and hiding her head under it. Eve sighed and moved closer to Lily, patting her friend's back gently.

"Lily…" she said softly.

"Go away please…" said Lily in a muffled voice. "Please, just go away…"

Eve sighed and got back on her feet. She went to the door and turned to her friend before opening the door.

"Don't make him wait too long Lily… he loves you but he won't wait forever," she said before leaving the room.

Lily took her head out from under the pillow and curled up in a ball on the bed, sighing. She looked at her watch and groaned. It was only seven thirty. The night was definitely going to be long.


	4. Chapter 4

Lily spent the night rolling from one side to another in her bed, plumping her pillow, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. However, she could not keep herself from thinking about Frederic. About how safe she had felt close to him, how fast her heart had been beating when she had seen his face coming close to her. Often, she tried to chase the thought from her head by shutting her eyes tightly, clearing her mind from everything. But soon, the image would come back to her by itself and she would even find herself adding to it, opening her eyes every time just as the kiss would have been growing more passionate, shaking slightly and trying to suppress the images from her head.

In the end, around one in the morning, she grew so restless that she jumped on her feet and silently made her way downstairs. Shivering, she made her way to the couch which was right next to the fireplace and lied down on it, wrapping a blanket that she had brought with her around her body. Finally, after another half hour, she fell into a dreamless sleep out of pure exhaustion.

When she woke up the next morning, nudged by someone, she groaned as it seemed to her it had only been ten minutes since she had drifted to sleep. Sighing, she opened her eyes, getting ready to glare at whoever had woken her up, when he eyes fell on Fred's amused face. Groaning even more, she pulled the blanket over her head.

"Go away and let me sleep," she mumbled, closing her eyes.

Frederic rolled his eyes and grabbed the blanket, pulling it away from her. She mumbled something under her breath and hid her eyes with her arm, cuddling on the couch. Frederic smiled and knelt down beside her, his face next to hers.

"Come on Lils, get up," he said, laughing.

"But I don't want to…" she groaned.

"Suit yourself, but you have thirty minutes left before divination," he said, getting back on his feet with a small mischievous smile.

Lily's eyes opened widely and she sprung on her feet, starting at him.

"You're kidding!" she cried as she ran upstairs to get dressed, not aware that Fred had fell on the couch, laughing.

When she entered the dormitory, she stopped abruptly and stared at all her friends who were still sleeping in their bed. Confused, she slowly did the math in her head. The first of September had been a Thursday this year… meaning the previous day had been a Friday… meaning today was… Saturday! Swearing under her breath, she made her way out of the dormitory and ran back downstairs to find Fred laughing like mad on the couch.

"You're so dead!" she said before jumping on his, tickling his sides.

Laughing, Fred rolling over and found himself on top of her as he imprisoned her hands in his.

"You were saying?" he asked teasingly.

Lily stuck out her tongue at him and pushed him off her, making him fall on the floor next to the couch.

"Oh my God, are you alright?" she asked, looking down at him.

Fred simply reached for her hand and pulled, making her shriek as she fell on top of him, laughing, her long blonde hair brushing his face softly. Slowly, he read out a hand and started playing with her hair, making Lily's heart skip a beat as her cheeks turned slightly red.

"Why do you change your hair colour?" he asked.

Lily shrugged.

"I don't know…"

At that moment, she heard a door opening and got back on her feet before sitting on the couch, sighing as a very sleepy Sophy made her way downstairs, trying to keep her eyes open so that she wouldn't trip over anything. Sighing, she fell on the couch next to Lily and rubbed her tired eyes, not even noticing Fred who was still lying on the floor.

"Good morning," said Lily cheerfully with a teasing smile.

"Hmmm mornin'," answered Sophy with a yawn.

Fred got back on his feet, grinning, and went up to his dormitory after winking at Lily, who gave a little smile and teasingly blew a kiss at him. As Frederic entered his dormitory, laughing, Sophy raised an eyebrow at her friend. She was sleepy indeed, but not sleepy enough to miss that.

"Okay, what is going on between you two?" she asked, frowning.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Lily as she screwed up her face, her hair instantly turning red.

Sophy rolled her eyes as Lily turned to her with a mischievous smile.

"What about you?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" said Sophy confusedly.

"How was your date with Karl? You seem rather tired after all," she said, smiling teasingly.

Sophy turned red and looked down at her hands, suddenly feeling very interested by her nails.

"I wasn't a date, we just…" she began.

"Sneaked out of the castle after the curfew and spent the whole night together by the lake," completed Lily.

"How do you know!?" cried Sophy with wide eyes, too surprised to even try to deny it.

"I have my sources," said Lily, smirking.

"What sources?" asked Sophy dubiously.

"Have you forgotten that most of the windows in the Gryffindor Common Room overlook the lake?" asked Lily innocently.

"Crap…" muttered Sophy under her breath.

"Anyway, how is he?"

"I don't know… we… didn't talk much," mumbled Sophy as Lily burst out laughing.

"That's what I said, how is he?" she repeated teasingly.

"Lily!" cried a shocked Sophy.

"What?" laughed Lily. "Come on Sophy…"

Sophy scowled at Lily and the she gave a little smile.

"Rather good, but there's place for improvement…" she said mischievously.

"You're so evil!" said Lily, laughing.

Sophy shrugged her shoulders, smiling.

"You didn't let me finish my dear… there's place for improvement and I intend on giving him private lessons," she said, smirking.

"So you fell for him, haven't you?" asked Lily, smiling softly.

Sophy turned slightly red and nodded, looking down at her feet shyly. Lily smiled and hugged her friend. She had had lots of troubles in her sentimental life the preceding year and all her friends had been quite worried about her until one day, soon before the end of the year, she had started hanging out with a shy but sweet boy who almost seemed to worship the ground on which she walked, and Lily knew they had spent a good part of their summer together, as friends of course.

"And how is Fred?" asked Sophy, turning to Lily with a teasing smile.

Lily looked at Sophy, shocked.

"How should I know?" she said, glaring.

"That's the thing Lily, you _should_ know!" said Sophy, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to snog him just to satisfy your curiosity," mumbled Lily.

"Not mine indeed… but yours," said Sophy.

"I…"

"Lily, you want him to kiss you within an inch of your life and it's clearly written on your face so don't even try to deny it," said Sophy strictly.

Lily crossed her arms sulkily and frowned at Sophy. Then she sighed.

"Alright, yes, I want him to kiss me. Happy now?"

"Then stop waiting and do it, silly!" said Sophy exasperatedly.

"I will…"

"Good!" exclaimed Sophy.

"Someday, in my dreams," added Lily sarcastically.

Sophy sighed and shook her head.

"Alright then, you won. I'm leaving you alone with this from now on," she said, raising her hands in defeat.

Lily rolled her eyes, thinking "_Yeah, right_," convinced that Sophy would make a comment as soon as something happened. However, when she realized that Sophy intended on keeping her word, she felt quite happy about it, and even more when she saw that Eve, Katharine and Lori had decided to follow her example.

However, for Eve, it did not last, even if the comments were more subtle than usual, but somehow Lily didn't mind anymore. Soon, all five girls found themselves buried in school work and before they even knew it, the first Hogsmeade trip was announced, taking place, as usual, on Halloween day.

Lily was glad – Hogsmeade trips were always a good occasion for her to spend the day with James, and her friends knew that even if this year, Eve had hinted she should have asked Fred to go with her, as in going out together. Lily had simply rolled her eyes, knowing she would probably spend part of the day with him anyway as Fred and Emily sometimes joined her and James, though sometimes they would not. Lily knew that Emily would probably spend the day with them.

However, when she did ask Frederic if he would be going with her brother and her, he turned red and said he had something else planned. Lily had been slightly taken aback but she had not insisted, seeing that he looked slightly uncomfortable about it.

Finally, on the morning of the 31th of October, Lily said bye to her friends and looked around the Great Hall to find her brother. When she saw him, she waved at him but kept on looking around, out of pure curiosity – she was wondering where Fred was, but apparently he was already gone. Shrugging, she went over to James and gave him a quick hug while smiling at Emily, with whom he was holding hands.

"So, are we ready to go?" asked James, putting his arm around his sister's shoulders.

"I am," she said, grinning.

"Fred isn't coming?" asked Emily, frowning.

"He said he had something planned," answered Lily, shrugging.

They all left the Great Hall with the other students and soon, they arrived in Hogsmeade. They spent most of the day talking, running around, buying things and having fun, but at one point, Lily started feeling a little like an outside as James wrapped an arm around Emily's waist, pulling her closer to him so that he could whisper something in her ear, making her blush and giggle. Smiling indulgently, Lily told them she wanted to go see the Shrieking Shack and told them to wait for her at the Three Broomsticks. Sighing, she went away and made her way to the old house which had apparently been haunted once, even though it was quiet now, hoping to be alone. But as she got closer, she started hearing voices, one boy and one girl to be exact, and they seemed to be fighting rather harshly. However, when she was close enough to see who the two persons were, they stopped fighting and started kissing instead. Lily wanted to turn away but she was too curious, unconscious that her curiosity could hurt her very deeply, which it did when she recognized the two persons.

Josie Malfoy, her long brown hair dancing in the wind, was kissing passionately, while having her arms wrapped around his neck… Frederic. Lily felt her eyes sting as a silent sob escape her lips. Quickly, she turned around and ran away, not even seeing where she was going as she was blinded by her tears. She could hardly even breathe as he had the impression that her heart had been ripped into tiny pieces. As she arrived in front of the Three Broomsticks, she wiped her tears away and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. When she decided that she was well enough, she sighed and entered the place, making her way to James and Emily's table and sitting down quickly. She did not look at them directly though. She kept looking down at her hands, hoping they would not notice her reddened eyes. Then, after about an hour, she grew tired and even more in pain, not sure she would be able to stand anything anymore except crying.

"I'm gonna go back at school," she said suddenly, getting back on her feet.

"Are you alright Lils?" asked James, feeling worried.

"Yeah, I'm just getting a headache," she said weakly.

Without waiting for him or Emily to answer, she turned and rushed out of the Three Broomsticks. Taking a deep breath, she started walking faster, not watching where she was going, her arms wrapped around her body as if it would protect herself from being hurt again. Suddenly, she felt her arm grabbed and turned to see Fred. He looked angry and even a bit disgusted, but when he saw Lily a worried look spread on his face. The young girl did not see either of those emotions on his face as she was still feeling too much pain. Swiftly, viciously, she pulled her arm away from his grip and glared at him with scornful and teary eyes.

"Lily, are you alright?" he asked, frowning.

She did not answer. Instead, she slapped him hard and turned on her feet, running away as fast as she could as she burst into tears, leaving a shocked and confused Frederic behind her.

When she arrived at Hogwarts, she rushed to her common room and said the password, ignoring Helga's concerned look. Sniffing, she went through the portrait hole and ran up the stairs to her dormitory, slamming the door behind her and jumping on her bed, letting all her pain and tears out at once as she sobbed on her pillow. She felt so stupid and angry at herself! How could she have let herself fall for a guy who was her friend? She had known she would only end being hurt and now she had the proof. She was also mad for thinking Fred had felt something for her, but then she shook her head. He hadn't exactly tried to prove her wrong either! She had not imagined all the times she had caught him looking at her, and she knew he had really been about to kiss her on their second night at Hogwarts. She remembered the look in his eyes, the tenderness and concern on his face... With that, new tears started rolling on her cheeks and she shook her head, trying to empty he mind from anything that would remind her of Fred.

"I hate him…" she mumbled to herself through her tears.

"Who do you hate?" asked Eve cheerfully as she entered the room, only catching the last sentence, unaware of Lily's state.

She froze at the door when she saw Lily lying down on her bed, crying and sobbing her heart out. The next second, she was sitting next to Lily, holding her friend tightly in her arms while rocking her gently back and forth, like a mother comforting her child.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked softly as she was stroking Lily's messy hair.

At first, Lily kept on crying on Eve's shoulder, clinging to her friend desperately as if she would fall down from very high if she let go of her. Then, she sobbed the whole story out and Eve listened to her with a blank expression on her face.

"Lily... are you sure?" she asked softly after an hesitation.

Lily's green eyes flashed with anger and pain as she looked up at her friend.

"Yes I'm sure Eve. He was kissing her and neither of them seemed to mind," she snapped.

"But have you asked him?" Eve asked, frowning.

"Oh sure, why not?! 'Hey Fred, have you kissed any Slytherin cow lately?' I see myself doing that…" said Lily darkly.

"But Lily, you can't just ignore him!" cried Eve. "He'll be rather confused, don't you think?"

"I don't care, he can go rot in hell…"

Eve sighed, knowing it was no use to argue with her hurt friend right now. However, even if she trusted what Lily had told her, she reflected that Fred probably had had a good reason for kissing Josie, if he had kissed her willingly, which she highly doubted. After all, he often went around mumbling around the Slytherin girl, saying she was happy only when she bothered him, which she did every time she came close to him. Even though she thought that, Eve did not try to reason Lily with that argument – she knew her friend too well, and knew that she was too badly hurt at that moment to hear anything. She also figured that the young girl would probably say something like: "_It was probably to hide his real feelings_".

Sighing, Eve looked down at her friend and felt a small stinging sensation in her heart as she noticed that Lily had cried herself to sleep and that, from time to time, a silent sob would escape her pale lips. Her cheeks were still bearing the trace of her tears and she looked so much in pain… Feeling like crying herself, Eve covered Lily with her quilt and kissed her cheek softly, letting her to her dreamless and painful sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Lily woke up late, which was not in her habits, and still she felt dreadfully tired. Sighing, she looked around the room to see she was alone – the other girls were already up. She felt quite thankful about it as she could feel the tears threatening to fill her eyes again. Every beat her heart gave felt painful, every breath she took got caught in her throat. People could have thought she was aggravating her pain, but those people had probably forgotten how it hurt to lose our first young love. As Lily let out a tiny sob, the door flew open and Sophy entered the room with a big cheerful smile before jumping on her friend's bed.

"Good morning sunshine, time to get up," she said happily.

Lily smiled. Obviously, Eve hadn't told the girls anything and she felt relieved about it. She gave a little smile but even though her lips were smiling, her eyes were not and Sophy noticed it.

"Lily, are you alright?" she asked, a worried look spreading on her face as she sat beside her friend.

"I'm tired," said Lily simply.

Sophy frowned and stroked her friend's hair softly. Instantly, Lily broke into tears again, burying her face in her pillow as Sophy looked down at her with an alarmed look on her face. At that moment, Eve entered the room and sighed, sitting on the other side of Lily's bed, stroking her hair gently.

"It's okay sweetie, you'll be okay," she said softly.

Sophy looked from Lily to Eve confusedly and Eve told her friend everything Lily had told her. They spent the next half hour trying to comfort Lily, silently though as they knew no words would help their friend right now. They did not exactly manage to make her feel better, but she did stop crying after a while.

"Please don't tell the others about it," she said pleadingly.

Sophy and Eve looked at each other doubtfully.

"Lily, you usually spend the whole day with Fred, they will see that something is wrong if you ignore him," said Eve softly.

"I'm just asking you girls not to tell them. If they ask me, I'll tell them we had a fight and they'll be too happy to think it was some stupid lover's quarrel. But I want to say that myself…" said Lily.

Eve and Sophy both nodded.

"Are you hungry sweetie?" asked Sophy gently.

"I don't want to go down," said Lily, shaking her head.

"I know, but I can go get you some food," said Sophy.

Lily smiled at her friend and nodded.

"Thanks," she said with a little voice.

Sophy hugged Lily and got back on her feet, leaving the room. Lily wrapped her quilt around her body tightly, sighing deeply.

"I talked to Fred," said Eve suddenly.

"What?" cried Lily with an alarmed look on her face as she sat up straight.

"Don't worry, I didn't ask anything… he did actually. Asked me if you were okay… he seemed pretty worried," said Eve softly.

"He can stay worried all he want," muttered Lily.

"Lily, why don't you…" began Eve.

"Eve, he was kissing her!"

"But it was his right Lily!" said Eve, sighing. "He isn't anybody's boyfriend, he can kiss whoever he want."

"But why her!" cried Lily. "Why her and not…"

She stopped abruptly and looked away.

"Why her and not you?" completed Eve softly.

Lily's eyes filled with tears again and she nodded.

"Oh poor sweetie," said Eve, wrapping her arms around Lily and rubbing her back. "You love him, don't you?"

Lily pulled away quickly.

"I do not!" she raged, angry at herself more than at Eve.

"Yes you do," said Eve softly. "And now you think he loves someone else and you feel miserable."

"I thought he did love me Eve," said Lily, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I really thought he did, I thought that I was more than a friend to him and I was ready to…"

"Lily, stop talking like that," said Eve, interrupting her. "He loves you! You should have seen the look in his eyes earlier."

"Then why did he kiss her?" asked Lily coldly.

Eve could not answer that. She sighed and shook her head as Sophy reentered the room, holding a plate filled with food and two small pieces of paper.

"Here you go sweetie," said Sophy, handing the plate to Lily.

Lily thanked Sophy and ate her breakfast quickly as she was hungry. Only when she was done did she notice the pieces of paper Sophy was holding.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at them.

Sophy smiled and gave her one of the two pieces of paper.

"I met James in the Great Hall. He seemed worried," she said softly.

Lily smiled as she read the small note her brother had written, obviously trying to cheer her up.

"Emily is a lucky girl," said Eve teasingly after she read the note herself.

Lily rolled her eyes and folded the piece of paper, putting it on her bedside table. Sophy then handed her the second one, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"I also met Fred in the common room… he asked me to give you this," she said, looking uneasy as if she wondered if she was doing the right thing.

Lily hesitated and sighed, taking the piece of paper and reading it.

"_Hey Lils…_

_Are you alright? Eve said you were but you didn't give me that impression yesterday and now you keep yourself locked in you dormitory… please talk to me, I haven't slept at all last night. And I miss you…_

_Fred."_

"He said he'd be in the common room all day," said Sophy when she saw that Lily was done reading.

Lily sighed and nodded. Then she lied back down on her bed and both Eve and Sophy got back on their feet.

"Do you us to let you sleep?" asked Eve.

"Yes please…" said Lily almost in a whisper.

Eve and Sophy left the room and Lily cuddled on her bed, hugging her pillow and thinking very deeply. She wanted to hate him. She wanted him to feel worried, she wanted to ignore him and to hurt him… but she knew she wouldn't be able to. For one thing, she could never hate him, no matter how badly he hurt her. She loved him but she had taken too much time to realize it. And now he had given up on her and made his choice… Fred was very popular among the numerous ladies of Hogwarts school, and lots of girls were jealous of Lily, which she had always considered as stupid as she was just his friend and didn't keep him from dating anybody… though now she wished she had. The only thing she couldn't understand was that… out of all the girls he could have picked, he had chosen Josie. A Slytherin who prided herself in making his life a living hell.

After a few minutes of thinking, she fell asleep. When Eve came back up an hour later, she found Lily shaking in her sleep with a tortured expression on her face. Quickly, she went over to her friend and nudged her.

"Lily sweetie… Lily wake up," she said softly.

Lily suddenly sat up straight in bed, trembling and gasping for breath. Eve sat on the bed next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Lily, are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

Lily, who was still trembling, shook her head slowly. She was staring at the wall in front of her but somehow, Eve could tell she didn't even see it. There was a strange look in her eyes which sent a chill down her friend's spine, and her face was almost white.

"He was kissing her again… right in front of me," she began with a cold dreamy shaking voice. "I was chained to a wall and… there was a big snake, with cold blue eyes. He was coming closer to me and I was screaming for help, but he kept on kissing her and it kept coming closer… and then it slid up the wall and it wrapped itself around my neck and I couldn't breathe anymore and I was dying," she said, gasping for breath as if she really had been strangled. "And he kept on kissing her."

Eve grabbed Lily's shoulders and shook her.

"Lily, come back to earth. It was just a dream," she said softly, stroking Lily's hair.

"No it wasn't," cried Lily, shaking. "It was real, it really was… and he just kept on kissing her."

She broke into tears and pressed her face on her pillow, her whole body trembling. Eve looked down at her, feeling even more worried than before. Lily turned to her friend, her white cheeks streamed with tears.

"Go away please," she whispered in a weak voice.

Eve sighed and nodded. She kissed Lily's forehead and left the room as an idea hit her. With a determined look on her face, she closed the door behind her and went down the stairs, her fingers tightly shut on her wand. Lily sighed as she heard the door close and shook her head. She kept seeing the images of her dream over and over again, and she still felt the death gasp of the snake on her throat. She knew it had only been a dream… but she still had trouble breathing. Then, she heard the door open and buried her face in her pillow again, trying to restrain her sobs.

"Go away Eve," she said in a muffled voice.

Eve didn't answer as she came closer to her, sitting right beside her on the bed, stroking her hair gently, tenderly. At that point, Lily looked up, sighing, and she froze. She sat up straight in bed, her eyes widening as her mouth fell wide open. It wasn't Eve after all.

"Lily… what's wrong?" asked Fred softly, taking her hand.

"How did you get up here," she asked, too stunned to register the pain and worry in his eyes.

"Eve conjured a ladder," he explained, stroking her cheek.

Lily pulled away and looked at her feet with scornful eyes. Fred sighed and looked at her with a pleading look on his face.

"What's the matter Lils?" he asked softly. "Only two days ago everything was fine and now you even bare my presence? What happened?"

"Why don't you ask you girlfriend?" muttered Lily coldly.

"My girlfriend?" he said confusedly. "What are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend…"

Lily rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Lily please…" he said, coming closer to her.

He wrapped his arms around her and she stiffened, but she didn't push him away.

"Please, just tell me what's wrong," he said in her ear, stroking her hair.

Lily shook her head and shut her eyes tightly as she felt the tears coming back. Why did he have to be so nice? Fred looked at her with a tortured expression on his face. He couldn't bear seeing her like that… and if he had known it was all because of him, which he didn't, he probably would have despised himself without even trying to figure what he'd had done wrong. When he saw a single tear leaving Lily's eye and rolling down her cheek, his mind went crazy. Without thinking, he took her face between his hands and pulled her closer to him, pressing his lips on hers. Lily froze completely as her mind went fuzzy for a few seconds. When she finally registered what was happened, she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

Fred pulled her as close as he could, putting his arms around her waist as she moved to sit on his lap, her hand tangling in his hair to pull him even closer as he let his hands run up and down her back. Then, a very unpleasant image came to Lily's mind and she saw him back, the day before, kissing Josie. In her head, he had been kissing the Slytherin girl as passionately as he was now kissing her, which was definitely not the reality, but Lily didn't care to find out. She quickly pushed him away and slapped him hard.

"What's the matter with you, do you go around kissing random girls every day!" she raged, lying back down on her bed and pulling her quilt over her.

Fred stared at her confusedly for a second and then he understood what had happened. A horrified look spread on his face as he looked down at her sobbing hidden form.

"Oh God Lily… you don't understand, it's not what you think it is," he said, shaking his head.

"I don't care!" was the only answer he got.

"Lily please, just let me explain, you have to…" he began.

Lily came out from under the quilt and got back on her feet, slapping him again.

"Go away and leave me alone!" she shouted, her eyes red from crying and her face pale with anger.

She jumped back on her bed and buried her head under her pillow, sobbing loudly. Fred looked at her in distress but then he sighed. How could he have been so stupid… but he knew she wouldn't hear him now and he had to give her time. He stroked Lily's arm softly and left the room, feeling a very huge headache coming as she ran down the stairs, hurrying up so that it wouldn't turn into a slide. When Eve, who had been waiting for him anxiously with Sophy, saw the look on his face, she swore under her breath and sat on the couch, crossing her arms.

"If someone don't reason that girl soon, we're gonna have to do it ourselves," she mumbled.

Sophy sighed and nodded, looking up at the door that led to their dormitory with a pained and worried expression.

"Should we go?" she asked, looking at Eve.

"No," said Eve, shaking her head. "She won't want to see us right now… and whatever happened up there was bad," she added as the door from the boy's dormitory was slammed shut.

Both girls turned their attention to the fireplace, sighing deeply, knowing the weeks to come would be very long and hard, especially on Lily and Fred.


End file.
